Stand-off for boarding ladder



Oct. 2, 1962 D, WALL, JR 3,056,466

STAND-OFF FOR BOARDING LADDER Filed Aug. 7, 1961 INVENTOR w Tom D."[111, Jr.

United States Patent Ofifice 3,956,466 Patented Oct. 2, 1962 3,056,466STAND-OFF FOR BOARDING LADDER Tom D. Wall, J12, PD. Box 31, Wadesboro,NC. Filed Aug. 7, 1961, Ser. No. 129,724 1 Claim. (Cl. 182-214) Thisinvention relates to boarding ladders and more particularly to that partof this type of ladder that is known as a stand-d.

It is well known to those experienced in the marine arts that when theaverage boarding ladder is placed over the gunnel of a boat or ship thatdifficulty will be encountered due to the usual inwardly sloping sidesof the craft unless some form of stand-off is provided to hold theladder in a safe useable position. It is therefore one of the purposesof this invention to provide a stand-off that can readily be adapted toany boarding ladder having rigid steps.

Another object of this invention is to provide a standoff that is madeof light weight material so as not to add materially to the weight ofthe boarding ladder and thus make it awkward to handle.

Another object of this invention is to provide a standofi that canreadily be adapted to a boarding ladder regardless of which side of thevessel it will be used on.

Another object of this invention is to provide a stand- 01f that willgive added safety to any boarding ladder to which it is secured byreason of the fact that it has not one, but two stand-off struts thusassuring lateral stability of the ladder.

Still another object of this invention is to provide a stand-oft thatcan readily be adapted to any rigid ladder of any material regardless ofwhat use it may be put in so long as it, the ladder hang by its invertedU-shaped arms or their equivalent.

Other and further objects and advantages of this standoff for boardingwill be hereinafter described, and the novel features thereof in theappended claim.

Referring to the drawing:

FIG. 1 is a pictorial view of a typical boarding ladder used on smallboats with this invention in place ready for use.

FIG. 2 is a pictorial view of the boarding ladder with my inventionattached, both folded and ready for storage.

FIG. 3 is a sectional view taken substantially along lines 33 of FIGURE1 as viewed in the direction indicated by the arrows.

FIG. 4 is a sectional view taken substantially along lines 4-4 of FIGURE1 as viewed in the direction indicated by the arrows.

Similar reference characters refer to similar parts throughout theseveral views of the drawing.

Having reference now to the drawing in detail, and in particular toFIGURES l and 4, there is generally indicated by the character 7 aboarding ladder embodying a pair of vertically disposed supporting rails8 that also acts as a hand rail. The upper end of each of these rails ofwhich there is one on each side of the step 9, curves downwardly in theform of an inverted letter U that terminates in a resilient cap 10. Eachone of the foresaid rails is rotatably adapted in a snug fit over avertical member 11 which I call a leg. Actually there are two of theseforesaid vertical members and a horizontal bottom step portion 12 all inone single piece in the form of the U as can clearly be seen onexamination of FIGURES l and 2 of the appended drawing.

Continued examination of the same foresaid FIGURES 1 and 2 will showthat the lower end of each one of the said rails 8 rest on top of thestep 9 while each of the vertical members 11 project upward through anopening in each end of the said step 9 to which it is secured by meansof a rivet 13 or its equivalent. The foresaid tubes 8 are of coursesuitably secured to the vertical members 11 in any desired manner thatwill not prevent the rotation of the said tubes.

A typical boarding ladder to which my actual invention, the stand-offfor a ladder has now been described in detail though it is realized thatthis foredescribed construction may vary considerably with the size ofthe ladder and the material from which it is made as it is notabsolutely necessary that the rails 8 or vertical members 11 be of metalnor the step 9 of wood.

This invention which, as has previously been stated, is called astand-nit, consists of a U shaped tubular member 14 having resilientcaps 15 on the outer end 6 on each one of its legs 16. A U shapedbracket 17 is adapted to rotatably secure the foresaid tubular member 14to the underside of the step 9 by means of a plurality of screws 18 byfitting over, and partly around the head portion 19 of the said tubularmember 14. This construction is best illustrated by FIGURE 14 of theappended drawing.

The construction of both the boarding ladder and the stand-oflt(invention) to which it is secured has now been described in detail, andits method of use is almost self explanatory when one reads the abovedescription of its construction along with an examination of theappended drawing.

It is certainly clear to those experienced in the art that when one getsready to board or leave a boat or ship by a ladder of this sort, that itis only necessary to place the said ladder 7 over the side of the craftand hang the same by upper ends of the rail 8 which are curved aspreviously stated, to hang over the gunnel of a boat or the like, afterfirst of course placing the stand-off which is the U shaped tubularmember 14 in a horizontal position with its legs 16 extending from theboarding ladder 7 to the side of the boat or vessel which is not shownin any of the figures on the appended drawing since it is of course nota part of this novel invention. The resilient caps 15 rest against theside of the boat or vessel so as not to damage its painted or otherwisefinished surface.

When the boarding ladder 7 is removed from the side of the craft and isnot in use, its rails (hand rails) 8 are rotated so that the inverted Ushaped upper end is turned inward as clearly shown in FIGURE 2 of theappended drawing, the stand-01f, the U shaped tubular member 14 isrotated so that its legs 16 are parallel to and in the space between thetwo vertical members 11.

It may be added that the foresaid rails 8 which as said before, serve ashand rails, are covered with rubber, plastic or any other desiredmaterial that will prevent ones hands from slipping while boarding orleaving a boat or ship on which this ladder is being used. The uppersurface of the step 9 is provided with a plurality of grooves 24) toprevent ones feet from slipping when using this boarding ladder.

From the foregoing it will now be seen that there is herein provided animproved stand-off for boarding ladders which accomplishes all of theobjects of this invention, and others, including many advantages ofgreat practical utility and commercial importance.

As many embodiments may be made of this inventive concept, and as manymodifications may be made in the embodiment hereinbefore shown anddescribed, it will be understood that all matter herein is to beinterpreted merely a illustrative, and not in a limiting sense.

What I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

In an invention of the character described, comprising a single piece ofround tubing having the configuration of the capital letter U whenviewed from the front or back thereof, the two upper ends of the saidtubing being convexed when viewed from either side thereof, and arectangular step having an opening in each end thereof, the uppersurface of the said step having a plurality of longitudinally disposedgrooves formed therein, the said step having the said tubing passingthrough the opening in each end thereby forming a boarding ladder, thesaid step being secured in place on the said tubing by means of a rivetin each end of the said step, the rivet passing through both the stepand the said tubing and a U shaped clamp of a predetermined lengthscrewed onto the underside of the said step, and a U shaped tubularmember that is the stand-ofi member of this said boarding ladder, thesaid U shaped tubular member being prevented from swinging upward byreason of its pivotally being secured to the underside of the said stepby the said U shaped clamp.

References Cited in the file of this patent

